INSIGHT
in fostering deep and intimate relationships. Curious individuals tend to exhibit specific behaviours, such as being responsive and actively seeking self-disclosures from their interaction partners. These behaviours are particularly influential in cultivating positive social outcomes and promoting overall social well-being. By engaging in these curiosity-driven actions, individuals enhance the likelihood of building close and meaningful connections with others. Through the embrace of curiosity, individuals embark on a transformative voyage of exploration, broadening their horizons and cultivating a sincere fascination with the experiences, viewpoints and emotions of others. In this mutually beneficial relationship, curiosity acts as a catalyst for empathy which, in turn, nurtures and intensifies curiosity, creating a dynamic feedback loop. Gino argues that when we foster curiosity about individuals from diverse backgrounds and engage in conversations outside our customary social circles, we enhance our capacity to comprehend those who possess distinct lives, experiences and perspectives that differ from our own. Creating explorers of knowledge Covid-19 showed us that, despite this access to information, the world is still incredibly uncertain. The pandemic disrupted our lives in ways that were previously unimaginable and has exposed the limitations of our knowledge and understanding. It also highlighted the importance of being comfortable with uncertainty and learning to adapt to new and unpredictable situations. It has demonstrated how rapidly the world can change and proved that we need to be able to respond to those changes to thrive. A 2021 paper by Marianna Lamnina and Catherine Chase suggests that embracing uncertainty in the classroom – rather than avoiding it – can foster curiosity and provide students with the tools they need in order to navigate an uncertain world. While business schools have traditionally focused on imparting knowledge and technical skills, there is an increasing realisation that fostering curiosity goes beyond the acquisition of facts and figures. It involves nurturing a mindset that embraces ambiguity, encourages critical thinking and drives a hunger for continuous learning. By helping students channel their curiosity, business schools can equip them with the tools to navigate uncertainty, adapt to change and proactively seek out new opportunities. Curiosity acts as a catalyst for creativity, enabling students to challenge conventional wisdom, identify emerging trends and develop innovative solutions to complex problems. Business schools can foster an environment that cultivates purposeful curiosity by incorporating a range of strategies into their educational approach, including the following ideas.
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d ivi d u rf sla om different walks of life, including polar and space explorers, Formula One engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, executives and creatives from around the globe, all of whom channel their curiosity to a particular purpose: n i that of advancing science and human understanding, discovering new lands and opportunities, or reaching a significant goal. This is what I call ‘purposeful curiosity’, the kind that gets us off our couch and propels us to solve complex puzzles. It is about immersing ourselves into the unknown with clarity, passion, courage and a positive, enterprising attitude. This kind of curiosity requires effort, patience and resources and may lead us to exhaustion, but it is also overwhelmingly meaningful, rewarding, transformative and – very often – fun. Cultivating an inquisitive approach Curiosity – the urge to know, to see, or to experience – has tremendous benefits. Curiosity-driven individuals are more likely to generate breakthrough ideas and drive innovation. Companies that foster curiosity among their employees experience higher levels of creativity and are better equipped to adapt to an ever-changing business landscape. Stanford University Professor Nathan Rosenberg highlights that curiosity plays a pivotal role in driving transformative innovations, such as X-ray or laser technology, which emerged from physicists’ curiosity about seemingly esoteric questions. Similarly, Professors Susan Sanderson and Kenneth Simons at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute note that LED lighting, a ground-breaking development, originated in industrial labs driven by scientific curiosity. Research by Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino reveals that curiosity plays a vital role
Ambition JULY/AUGUST 2023 | 37
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